


Former Arch-Enemies With Benefits

by Roxie Ann (pluvial_poetry)



Category: Sky High (2005)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Polyamory, Yuletide 2013, sharing is caring, superhero college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 12:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pluvial_poetry/pseuds/Roxie%20Ann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Warren's defense, being Stronghold's friend is a lot harder than being his arch-enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Former Arch-Enemies With Benefits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blindmadness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blindmadness/gifts).



In Warren's defense, being Stronghold's friend is a lot harder than being his arch-enemy.

***

The person that decided to build Super U next to a chemical plant was a moron. Although considering how often "accidents" seem to happen over there, it must have been intentional, like some kind of real world training ground for undergraduate heroes. There's no other excuse for how often the students have to clean up their messes. If it isn't overgrown radioactive bugs invading the campus, then it's sentient sludge or--

"Carnivorous plants!" Will shouts, the wind nearly drowning out his voice as he flies them in, close to the edge of Frost's Pond, passing by a flash of white deep within the thing's root system that might be teeth. "Oh man, Layla is going to be so pissed she missed this!"

"Feel free to drag her along next time instead of me!" Warren says, while he kicks out at a creeping vine that's curled up in the air, getting just a little too close, grabbing for Warren's dangling legs. He lets the heat build up between his hands, takes aim at the writhing mass below them. Another vine tries to get a grip of his pant leg as they swerve through the air, Will banking hard to the left to avoid it just as Warren shoots. The fireball goes wide, hits the pond and extinguishes with a puff of steam.

"Dude, either hold steady or put me down!" Warren shouts back, looking up over his shoulder at Will. 

"Right. Bombs away." Will says, dropping him with a little shrug, because for one of the most powerful heroes ever, he's still kind of a dork. Warren tucks and rolls as he hits the ground, Will landing easily next to him, sharp thorn covered tendrils surrounding them in seconds. And yup, those are definitely teeth in there. Will bats the vines away with one hand, pulling his cell phone out with the other. "Hey, my mom just texted me! She and my dad are five minutes out."

Warren smiles. "Great. They'll be here just in time to clean up the mess," he says, and when Will nods with a smile of his own, Warren flares up. It gets pretty cold in December. Good time to light a fire.

***

Ten minutes later --

Warren bangs open the door to the apartment they share, shoving Will, soaking wet and shivering from being dumped in Frost's Pond like the idiot he is, inside in front of him. Then, just for good measure, he bangs the door shut after them.

The Commander and Jetstream had taken over what was left of the mission after they showed up at the scene to find mostly charred wreckage and their son, half-drowned. 

"Get your clothes off," Warren says, glaring at Will. But he's too impatient to wait for Will's clumsy attempts at it with his most likely hypothermic fingers, tearing at the buttons of his flannel shirt himself, still in the middle of their living room, and chafing at Will's skin with hot hands.

"Is my skin blue? I think my skin is actually blue!" The idiot actually sounds amazed by it, at least as far as Warren can tell through the sound of Will's teeth chattering. 

Warren's hands might get a little too hot then, until something sizzles, and Will yelps and jumps back. Warren's not going to apologize for it. "You didn't have to take the hit for me. I'm not some citizen that you have to save. I can handle myself," he says angrily, because he's still seething just thinking about it. Will racing in front of him just as a big root tore free from the ground and swung. Will being flung across the lake like a skipping stone and then floundering in the water because apparently those strong bones of his are too dense to float. And Warren couldn't get to him because he was pinned down, trying to avoid being eaten. So now Warren is left tucking his hands in his belt loops. It's that or they'll start trying to shake some sense in to Will.

Will has the nerve to look surprised by Warren's tone, like he was expecting gratitude. Of course, he does have a history of being mostly oblivious, just ask Layla. "Yeah, but we're a team," he says, disgustingly earnest, and if he starts pouting then Warren will be out the door. "And I'm practically indestructible, remember?"

"Practically." Warren scoffs at that. "Except last time I checked you don't have gills, Stronghold. What the hell were you thinking?!"

Will's shoulders go up, stubbornly defensive. "I was thinking better me than you."

Warren's hands clench tight, because yeah, he can admit that being dunked in a half-frozen pond would have sucked for him, but he would have survived it. And that's the whole idea. "I don't need you to sacrifice yourself for me. Try it again and I'll--"

Normally, this is where he'd mentally apologize to Layla because he's going to have to strangle her boyfriend, but it suddenly hits him that things aren't normal. Will's shivering, still, and somehow Warren's hands have ended up back on Will's chest, sharing their warmth with him, Will's heart beating steadily under them. And Will's grown some in the five years that they've been former arch-enemies, but he still has to look up to meet Warren's eyes, which Warren only notices now because he's staring down into Will's. And he's realizing there's literally nothing he can threaten Will with that could possibly be worse than knowing that he could have died before Warren could have gotten to him. What would Warren have done then? 

"I'm sorry, I..." Will starts, and he hunches in on himself a little, like he did back in high school when he was afraid that Warren would notice him standing there. As horrible as it is to admit it, this is Warren's best friend and, hell, he's so gone on him that it's ridiculous. It hits him hard enough that he can barely even breathe.

"Are you guys okay?" Layla asks as she throws their front door open and flings herself forward at Will, who catches her easily. Warren takes three big steps away from them, still reeling. "I saw the news when I was coming out of my Gadgetry and Gizmos exam."

"Fine. I gotta get to work," Warren answers faintly, not looking at either of them, already halfway out the door before Will can say a word.

***

He can't actually be into Will, Warren thinks as he scrubs dishes at the Dragon, mops the floor, wipes down the tables. Because he's pissed at him. Even though getting mad at Will for being a hero and saving the day is like getting mad at fire for being hot. But Warren knowing he shouldn't be mad doesn't actually keep him from being mad, so they're kind of at an impasse there. And this feeling in his gut, like kissing Will would be more satisfying then punching him in his stubborn face, that's probably an adrenaline rush gone terribly wrong. It'll pass.

It has to pass.

His hands tighten on his cleaning cloth, and he inhales deeply, fighting the urge to set it on fire. He slides into the booth, it's not like Mr. Wong will care if he takes a break, there's no one here. So he slouches down on the cool vinyl bench and just breathes.

"Hey," Layla says as she drops suddenly into the seat across from him. "Are you sure you're okay? You seemed a little--" She makes a face that kind of looks like a cross between someone who's just been sucker punched and someone who just bit into something sour. Which isn't a half-bad estimate of how he feels. 

Warren shrugs. "Your boyfriend is kind of a stubborn, self-righteous piece of work."

"Yeah, it's one of the worst and best things about him," Layla says. She tilts her head, gives him that look she has, like she has x-ray vision and she's trying to see straight into Warren's soul. "You should just tell him that you like him."

Warren gives her a hard look, which she's pretty immune to at this point, just waiting him out patiently with a little smile. And he might be Baron Battle's son but he knows when to surrender. "Obvious, huh?" he says, with a disgusted grimace.

"Yeah," Layla nods, wrinkling her nose apologetically. "Or maybe just to me. So... tell him."

Warren laughs, but Layla doesn't. She actually looks like she's being serious, probably because no one in the hero community has any idea how strategy and self-interest work. It's all truth, justice, and love with them. Though in this case at least, there's really no point to it. "What good would that do? Will's in love with you." 

"Yeah, he is," Layla agrees, looking up at Warren. He would get her trying to warn him off, but the weird thing is that he doesn't any see pity or triumph on her face. There's something softer in her eyes. "He loves you too. And I think he would want to know."

"We can't always get what we want." He slides out of the booth quickly, shaking his hair out of his eyes, and grabs his washing cloth, intending to get back to work.

Layla grabs his wrist, and this time Layla winces when Warren glares at her but she's not the type to back down. Warren can respect that. So when she drops her hold, he doesn't walk away. "What if you could?" she asks. Warren can feel his eyebrows shoot up in shock, Layla quickly shaking her head in response. "I'm not saying that you can have him. But I'm offering to share him with you. If you want that. Because I know that Will does. And so do I," she finishes with a nervous flip of her hair. There's an awkward pause as she watches Warren struggle to make sense of what the hell she just said before she simply pats the seat next to her, another offer. If he wants.

"This kind of hippie, free love bullshit is why you got labelled a side-kick in high school," he reminds her. He's surprised to find that he doesn't mean it as an insult. This day just can't get much stranger. 

Layla rolls her eyes. "I took the liberty of making up a schedule," she says, then looks at him expectantly.

He sits back down.

***

Of course Will's waiting for him when Warren gets home that night. Warren had managed to keep up the low simmering anger for the bulk of his shift, but he just can't anymore. Not with Will standing in front of him, and not with what Layla said to him still buzzing in the back of his mind.

"You know I don't see you as a side-kick or someone I have to save, right?" Will rushes right into whatever speech he had prepared before Warren can even get his jacket off. "I only try to protect you because I care about you. You're my best friend and I would really hate it if--"

And Warren just can't take it anymore. "Stronghold. Will. Stop talking," he orders. Will seems confused by the interruption. Even more so when Warren grabs him. He figures that if Will doesn't want to be manhandled he's more than capable of stopping him. He doesn't though. Warren yanks him in close, and Will's eyes go wide and his lips part, but he doesn't stop him. 

So Warren leans down and kisses him, open-mouthed but trying to take it slow. It's just that - he knew Layla hadn't been lying to him, but he hadn't expected Will to be so desperate for it. He goes for this so easy, his head tilted back, his hips moving against Warren's. 

"Wow," Will whispers when Warren finally pulls back to breathe and he sounds so sincere that Warren can barely even laugh at him. Besides, Warren kind of knows the feeling, as he drags up Will's t-shirt in the front, rubbing his hands over perfect skin. Will doesn't even have a bruise on him, but he's sweaty and flushed from the heat Warren is putting out, and Warren doesn't know where to start doing the things he wants to do to him. Will groans suddenly, tries to twist out of Warren's grip. Not very hard though, because Warren's still got a hold on him when he whimpers guiltily, "Layla is going to kill me."

Warren shakes his head, pressing their foreheads together, biting softly at Will's bottom lip. "No, she really won't." 

"She won't?" Will considers that, as Warren begins to maneuver him backwards, toward his bedroom. "Wow, yeah, that whole conversation we had last year about her being okay with how much I love you makes a lot more sense now."

"Last year?" Warren asks. 

Will blushes a little, and just shrugs an answer. "You're really both okay with, I mean, you both want--" he stops as Warren shoves him down on to his bed, the frame creaking ominously, but holding for now.

Warren arches an eyebrow, crawling over him. "We agreed to shared custody. I get you whenever Layla's in class, for starters." 

"Layla's taking five classes this semester. And a seminar on the environmental impact of the mad sciences," Will says, dazedly, his grip tight on Warren's hips. And yeah, Warren's probably going to need a new bed frame before he's done with Will tonight.

"She'll make it up to you on her own time." Warren smiles. "Good thing you're practically indestructible."

***

Warren's lucky, being Will's part-time boyfriend is a lot easier than being his former arch-enemy, his friend, or whatever.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Tumblr](http://pluvial-poetry.tumblr.com/)


End file.
